1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is related to restoration of data to a computer system from an existing backup, and more particularly, to providing computer hardware without an operating system, known in the art as “bare metal”, with full operating system capabilities.
2. Description of the Related Art
Usually a backup is a copy of data stored on a data storage device, created in order to be used to restore the original state of the data storage device. Such restoration might be required after a loss of data has occurred due to inadvertent data deletion or due to non-recoverable computer hardware failure. In general, the backups are used for two purposes: for restoring a computer system to a previous state, and for restoring selected files from backup.
Frequently, after a critical system failure, the operating system of a computer system cannot be started. In this case, it is necessary to boot up the computer from some other bootable media, such as a bootable CD/DVD disk, to restore the failed file system to its original state, or to install the operating system (OS) and the necessary software on the computer system, or both.
In this case, the CD/DVD disk can contain the software for installing the OS, or for restoring the data storage device to the state that existed prior to the storage device failure. In some cases these procedures can be performed locally. However, in some cases it might be desirable to perform these procedures along with certain modifications to the operating system files, or to perform these procedures remotely.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a more flexible system and method for performing “bare metal” restoration of computer data.